We just got off the 3 day Disney Wonder today. We had a wonderful time and I am sad I'm now off the ship! The ship was truly amazingly cleaned and I loved the idea of the hand sanitizing as you go into the restaurants and off/on the ship. The shows and characters were a lot of fun too! Our stateroom was huge and room service was great! I loved the cheese platter, as well as the cake of the day. I also loved the 2 vegetarian selections at dinner each night, particularly the Indian vegetable curry. Divine! The absolute best advice I learned from these forums was to book the Comfort Suites for the Atlantis waterpark ! Great tip!
We were on the Carnival "Glory" Eastern Carribean a few years ago. Both trips were wonderful and entirely different. I have heard numerous times that once you go on a Disney ship, you'll never want to go on another. I don't agree with that at all. I LOVED the Carnival Glory. Maybe because it was my first cruise, it has a special fondness in my heart (sort of like your first love). However, I also really really enjoyed our Disney cruise too.
SERVICE: I didn't find the service on Disney to be exceptional to Carnival. Embarkation and Debarkation were definately better on Disney. I had a much better experience with the Carnival crew though. Our dining room staff on Disney was not impressive. Our server was actually rather gruff with my dh. My dh ordered 2 of the same soup one night and when 2 different soups were brought, my dh mentioned it and the server actually told my dh that dh was wrong, and proceeded to argue about what he ordered, rather than just bring the correct soup. The servers made little attempt to interact with the 2 kids at our table (both 9), until the last night, the asst server did a few tricks (that were really good!). The wait staff on the Glory was exceptional! The food came out much quicker and we LOVED our wait staff! The staff really made an effort to get to know the kids and made them feel special.
SHIPS: The ships themselves were so different it is hard to compare. Our balcony stateroom on the Disney was much bigger and nicer than our small inside stateroom on the Glory. The bed on the Wonder was very comfy, however the pull-out couch was miserable. The Glory is a much more "open" ship. We felt a lot more movement on the Wonder, perhaps due to it being a smaller ship, or time of year. Last night was terrifying to me. The seas were very rough and I was truly frightened as I had never experienced anything like that before. Our friends and many other passengers were seasick from the rough waters. I prayed myself to sleep.
ENTERTAINMENT: The shows can't be compared really. The Wonder shows are great, particularly if you are a huge Disney fan (which, I imagine the majority of people here on this forum are). The Glory shows tended to appeal to a wider crowd of people. Our family felt as there was more to choose from as far as ship activities on the Glory. Castaway Cay was beautiful and I'm really glad we had the chance to go there. The weather was perfect and we had a great day! We enjoyed the Atlantis waterpark a great deal as well. I will definately plan a 7-day cruise next time, so that we can do more excursions.
This was a wonderful trip on the Wonder and we had a fantastic time with our friends we went with! I will have many great memories of this cruise. That being said, I do believe our next cruise will probably be on Carnival. Perhaps if we had younger kids or were huge Disney fans, we'd do a Disney cruise again. Another thing I probably won't do again is obsess over every planning detail. We had 2 weeks to plan this trip (was a last minute thing) and I can easily see where becoming too obsessive about every minute detail about what happens when can cause a relaxing vacation to turn into a stressful time. I ditched the itinerary and list of tips after the first day, realizing that most of the fun comes from just winging it. I appreciate all of the advice on this forum and it really helped make our trip wonderful!
We were on the Carnival "Glory" Eastern Carribean a few years ago. Both trips were wonderful and entirely different. I have heard numerous times that once you go on a Disney ship, you'll never want to go on another. I don't agree with that at all. I LOVED the Carnival Glory. Maybe because it was my first cruise, it has a special fondness in my heart (sort of like your first love). However, I also really really enjoyed our Disney cruise too.
SERVICE: I didn't find the service on Disney to be exceptional to Carnival. Embarkation and Debarkation were definately better on Disney. I had a much better experience with the Carnival crew though. Our dining room staff on Disney was not impressive. Our server was actually rather gruff with my dh. My dh ordered 2 of the same soup one night and when 2 different soups were brought, my dh mentioned it and the server actually told my dh that dh was wrong, and proceeded to argue about what he ordered, rather than just bring the correct soup. The servers made little attempt to interact with the 2 kids at our table (both 9), until the last night, the asst server did a few tricks (that were really good!). The wait staff on the Glory was exceptional! The food came out much quicker and we LOVED our wait staff! The staff really made an effort to get to know the kids and made them feel special.
SHIPS: The ships themselves were so different it is hard to compare. Our balcony stateroom on the Disney was much bigger and nicer than our small inside stateroom on the Glory. The bed on the Wonder was very comfy, however the pull-out couch was miserable. The Glory is a much more "open" ship. We felt a lot more movement on the Wonder, perhaps due to it being a smaller ship, or time of year. Last night was terrifying to me. The seas were very rough and I was truly frightened as I had never experienced anything like that before. Our friends and many other passengers were seasick from the rough waters. I prayed myself to sleep.
ENTERTAINMENT: The shows can't be compared really. The Wonder shows are great, particularly if you are a huge Disney fan (which, I imagine the majority of people here on this forum are). The Glory shows tended to appeal to a wider crowd of people. Our family felt as there was more to choose from as far as ship activities on the Glory. Castaway Cay was beautiful and I'm really glad we had the chance to go there. The weather was perfect and we had a great day! We enjoyed the Atlantis waterpark a great deal as well. I will definately plan a 7-day cruise next time, so that we can do more excursions.
This was a wonderful trip on the Wonder and we had a fantastic time with our friends we went with! I will have many great memories of this cruise. That being said, I do believe our next cruise will probably be on Carnival. Perhaps if we had younger kids or were huge Disney fans, we'd do a Disney cruise again. Another thing I probably won't do again is obsess over every planning detail. We had 2 weeks to plan this trip (was a last minute thing) and I can easily see where becoming too obsessive about every minute detail about what happens when can cause a relaxing vacation to turn into a stressful time. I ditched the itinerary and list of tips after the first day, realizing that most of the fun comes from just winging it. I appreciate all of the advice on this forum and it really helped make our trip wonderful!
